Historical Background
The Free State Legislature was established in terms of the interim Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. The interim Constitution established a non-racial representative democracy and provided for a two-chamber Parliament holding concurrent powers with nine newly formed provincial legislatures. The division of the country into nine provinces did not affect the Free State Province as its boundaries remained primarily the same as prior to the 1994 democratic elections. Parts of the old Bophuthatswana bantustan was incorporated into the Free State province. The inauguration of the first democratically-elected Free State Legislature took place on 7 May 1994.
Elections
The legislature has between 30 and 80 members who are elected for a five-year term based on the province’s portion of the national common voters’ roll. Everybody over the age of 18 may register to vote and vote in the elections. The number of seats awarded to each political party is in proportion to the outcome of the provincial election. Provincial elections are held concurrently with national elections every five years.
The seat allocation to political parties represented in the Free State Legislature since 1994 has been as follows;
|
POLITICAL PARTY |
1994 |
1999 |
2004 |
2009 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| African National Congress (ANC) |
24 |
25 |
25 |
22 |
| Congress of the People (Cope) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
| Democratic Alliance (DA) |
0 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
| Freedom Front (FF) |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| New National Party (NNP) |
4 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
Constitutional Framework
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, specifically section 104(1) determines that; “The legislative authority of a yalla shoot province is vested in its provincial legislature.” This is therefore the foundation of the Free State Legislature. The Legislature is required to function in accordance with the basic principles of governance set out in the Constitution. These principles are underpinned by the entrenched rights contained in the Bill of Rights. The basic principles of governance are set out in Chapter 1 of the Constitution. This provides for;
- Human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedom,
- Non-racialism and non-sexism.
- Supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law.
- Universal adult suffrage, a national common voters’ roll, regular elections and a multi-party system of democratic government, to ensure accountability, responsiveness and openness.
The Free State Provincial Legislature’s mandate and obligations must also be understood in the context of the principles of co-operative governance set out in Chapter 3 of the Constitution.
Separation of powers
The concept of the Separation of Powers was first developed in Eighteenth Century France by the French political philosopher Baron de Montesquieu (1689 – 1755). The Government of France at the
time was an Absolute Monarchy, ruled by the most absolute of all sovereigns, Louis XIV, the so-called Sun King who famously declared “L`etatc`estmoi” – “I am the state”. Such arbitrary rule iseffectively a dictatorship, or, in a term much usedat the time, “tyranny”. Montesquieu had studied the British system of Government and evolved histheory in response to his understanding of Britishconstitutional arrangements. The fundamental rational of the theory is that it separates power among the dewaslot Executive, the Legislature (Parliament) and the Judiciary.
This separation of powers manifests itself in three distinct and different branches of government. The national Constitution is the supreme authority in South Africa, and the three branches of government, namely the Legislative (national Parliament and the provincial Legislatures), Executive (the Cabinet in national government and the Executive Councils in the provinces), and Judicial (the judges and magistrates who preside over the courts), are subservient to it. Each of these branches has its own functions and is independent from each other.
Powers and Functions
The powers of the Legislature are set out in section 114 of Chapter 6 of the Constitution. The legislature is empowered to pass legislation within its functional areas. In exercising its legislative power, a provincial legislature may:
- consider, pass, amend or reject any Bill before the legislature; and
- initiate or prepare legislation, except money Bills.
A provincial legislature must provide for mechanisms to:
- ensure that all provincial executive organs of state in the province are accountable to it; and
- maintain oversight of (i) the exercise of provincial executive authority in the province, including the implementation of legislation; and (ii) any provincial organ of state.
Members of the Executive Council are therefore accountable individually and collectively to the legislature. The Legislature exercises oversight slot88 dewa over the Executive Council and can call on Members of the Executive Council at any time to explain executive actions and/or decisions. A provincial legislature may also determine and control its internal arrangements, proceedings and procedures and make rules and orders concerning its business, with due regard to representative and participatory democracy, accountability, transparency and public involvement. A provincial legislature is bound only by the national Constitution, or by a provincial constitution if it has passed one. No provincial constitution has been passed for the Free State.